A tale of three All Blacks:
Carter and Collins injured; Marshall reinstated by
Montpellier
13 January 2009
The
continuing tale of three All Blacks – two former and one
current – is dominating reports in France this week with Dan
Carter, Jerry Collins and Justin Marshall the centre of
discussions for varying reasons.
Carter, the world’s leading
flying-half, confirmed on Monday that he would miss
Perpignan’s crucial Heineken Cup clash with the Ospreys at
the weekend due injury.
The All
Black No 10 has been suffering with an inflamed Achilles for
the past fortnight and was forced to come off at half-time
during Saturday’s Top 14 victory against Bourgoin.
According to the club doctor Carlos Vela, Carter has “slight
inflammation of the upper middle of the tendon” and will sit
out the Ospreys match to enable it to rest and avoid further
aggravation.
As well
as being a major blow to Perpignan – who must win the Pool 3
match to maintain hopes of quarter-final qualification – it
also robs spectators of the chance to see Carter up against
Welsh fly-half James Hook.
The news
on Toulon’s former All-Black back row Jerry Collins
was less positive, with confirmation that his knee ligament
damage would rule him out for six to eight weeks.
The Top
14 strugglers will at least take some comfort from the fact
Collins has not been sidelined for the remainder of the
season, but his loss is a significant blow as they fight to
avoid relegation back to Pro D2. They are currently
perilously placed in the drop zone after losing eight of
their last nine league games.
Collins
was carried from the pitch on Saturday during the club’s
latest reverse, a 19-9 defeat at Brive, and president Mourad
Boudjellal has called for prop Pascal Idieder to be cited
for the tackle which caused the injury.
The
third of the All Black trio hogging the headlines is former
scrum-half Justin Marshall, who found himself in hot
water after refusing to go on as a late substitute for
Montpellier against Toulouse two weeks ago.
Marshall was initially suspended by the club
for a week and was summonsed for showdown talks with
president Philippe Deffins on Monday.
It was
rumoured that Deffins was so unimpressed with Marshall’s
behaviour that the exit door beckoned, but it appears the
Montpellier number nine showed enough contrition to earn a
second chance.
In a
club statement Montpellier confirmed Marshall’s suspension
was now lifted and that he would be back in training with
the first team squad this week and available for selection
for their ECC Pool 2 game against Northampton Saints on
Thursday.
On a
more positive note Montpellier have also confirmed that
Biarritz international Benjamin Thiery, 24, has
signed a pre-contract agreement to join them for two years,
with the option of extending that for a third year.
Elsewhere, Clermont’s South African centre Marius Joubert
is also crocked and will sit out their all-French Heineken
Cup match against Montauban on Friday.
Joubert
strained a hamstring during Saturday’s 30-3 demolition of
Montpellier.
Another
player struggling with injury is Toulouse youngster
Maxime Medard. The utility back was injured while
playing on the left wing for the Top 14 champions on
Saturday and is now doubtful for the club’s Heineken Cup
home clash with Glasgow Warriors.
Medard
was substituted during Toulouse’s 25-9 win at Dax on Friday
and missed training yesterday (Monday). Toulouse are
currently top of Pool 5 with four wins from four.
|
